1. it praises the Church Christ, her Shepherd, for the instruction, government and refreshment of the Sacrament.
The title: A Psalm of David.
V. 1 [The Lord is my shepherd
2. dominus regit me ["the Lord governs me", in the Vulgate] is better expressed in Hebrew: "the Lord is my shepherd" or feeds me, that is, Jesus Christ, true God, is my shepherd alone, who feeds me with no other food than himself, as he says John 10:9: "I am the door, if anyone enters through me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture." Of this shepherd, Ezekiel says Cap. 34, 23: "I will raise up for them one shepherd to feed them, even my servant David, who shall feed them, and be their shepherd." So the opinion is: Away with those who speak out of their own, and in whom Christ does not speak. There were many such people in those days, and there are many now and always. For they feed not, but] under the appearance of truth.
Rather, these people, like the Pharisees, heretics, and superstitious, devour all things holy and under the name of Christ. For if all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ, it necessarily follows that apart from Christ there is no knowledge and wisdom, nor any shepherd of the sheep. But Christ alone is the only shepherd of the sheep.
I will not want for anything.
(3) That is, I shall have no lack, spoken in the same sense as Ps. 34:11: "The rich are left destitute and hungry, but they that seek the Lord have no lack of any thing." For he does not speak here of carnal abundance, as some think according to the Jewish opinion; but rather he wants this, that the rich are left empty and lack everything, but the poor, and those who have nothing, have everything in the Lord. For the poor have the gospel preached to them [Matt. 11:5], that is, they are fed with the gospel, that is, with Christ Himself. He who has Christ for his help can have nothing.
*This scripture is found (completely in Latin, without interspersing German sentences) in the same book as the two preceding scriptures, which was published by the children and heirs of Veit Dietrich from the estate of their father in 1559. As a caption is set over it: "The interpretation of the three following Psalms has been printed according to Luther's own handwriting". In the dedication letter to Duke Christoph of Würtemberg, the editors say: "Finally, through the service of our friends, we have obtained the interpretation of the 23rd and 24th Psalms and the beginning of the 25th Psalm, through which, as it seems, he wanted to continue the work he had begun on the entire Psalter and published elsewhere; however, manifold obstacles did not allow him to carry out this interpretation." It is found this interpretation in Latin in the Erlangen edition, 6xe.]. opp., tom. XVII, x>. In German translation, it was first included by Aurifaber in the second part of the Eisleben Collection, p. 112, and there, too (of course wrongly), the remark is prefixed: "The following interpretation of three Psalms is taken and added from D. Luther's own manuscript. Luther's own manuscript." Likewise in the Altenbnrger, vol. V, p. 514; in the Leipziger, vol.V, p. 358; in Walch, vol. IV, 1220, and in the Erlanger, vol. 38, p. 336. We give a new translation according to the Latin original. The determination of the time is probably questionable. .
1628 L. xvn, 277 f. Kurze Au[1. über d. 23. 24. u. 25. Psalm. Ps. 23. W. iv, 2222-2225. 1629
V. 2. He feeds me in a green pasture.
4 St. Jerome has it more significantly from the Hebrew: In pascuis herbarum acclinabit me, that is, he will make me lie down and rest gently and sweetly on a green pasture. For he speaks entirely in figurative speech, which, however, is nothing other than the simple mind according to the letter. For David did not eat grass, neither do the Christians. But as Christ calls his own sheep, so the prophet calls the gospel a pasture in green pastures or the place of pasture, both in figurative speech. So also in the Song of Solomon [Cap. 1, 7.] it is said, "Where thou feedest, where thou restest in the midst of the day." These two words ["pasture" and "rest"] are translated here [[in the Vulgate] by regit and collocavit, since they mean the same thing.
And lead me to the fresh water.
5 That is, he will nourish and sustain me by the waters, or by the waters of sound wisdom, that is, of the gospel. For he still remains in the figurative speech. For the gospel is meat and drink, the bread of life, and the water of sound wisdom. For as the sheep are pastured "most beautifully" in a pasture beside the waters: so the soul feeds on the Gospel, as the first Psalm, v. 3, says: "He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water." I know well that St. Augustine, and his imitator Cassiodorus, point this refreshing water to baptism. This is not wrong, but it does not belong here. For "the fresh water" (aqua refectionis) is here referred to a drink and refreshment (as they say), such as happens to the hungry and thirsty. Therefore the preposition super [in the Vulgate] is taken for: at, on, or beside.
V. 3. He restores my soul (Animam meam convertit).
Here he breaks off with the figurative speech and explains that he did not speak above of the pasture of the body (as the Jews erroneously assume), but of that of the soul. Furthermore, this whole speech is very emphatic and important, since when the soul is converted,
This does not happen in a fictitious and false way, only in appearance and with the tongue (as many are converted), but the person is converted from the heart and is changed into another person, although the flesh and the outward man do not stop opposing and lusting.
For by no means is the soul so changed and turned to the Spirit that it hates itself and its own, seeks God, and thirsts for God and what is God's, than by the sweet words of the gospel, which are words of grace and sharp darts of the strong, wounding through love, so that those become joyful and free whom the law and evil desire had previously made unwilling and servants, and therefore in truth hypocrites and hypocritical converts. Therefore, the work of the gospel and the fruit of the word is the change and sincere conversion of souls.
He leads me on the right road (Deduxit me super semitas justitiae).
(8) In the word "he leadeth" there is an image taken from the leading of the sheep; that is, he will promote me from faith to faith, from one virtue to another, from one clarity to another. Therefore it is better [than in the Vulgate] in the Hebrew as Jerome renders it: He will lead me in the paths (in semitis) or through the paths of righteousness, than: over the paths (super semitas) or by the paths. For almost all the verba which here [in Latin] are in the past tense are in the future tense in Hebrew. But there is nothing in this.
(9) This "righteousness" here is not that of which Aristotle speaks in the fifth book of his Ethics, or of which the jurists speak, but the faith or grace of Christ, which makes righteous, on the paths of which are led those who are docile and gentle, that is, (as it is said), "leidsam and meidsam" (dirigibiles et suasibiles), and by no means stubbornly insist on their sense and are not "köppisch" 1). For the one who is led must be willing, and not cling to any thing in such a way,
1) For the expressions used here, compare Walch, St. Louis Edition, vol. XXII, 501 (Tischreden, cap. 14,?24) and De Wette, vol. VI, p. 262.
that he is not ready to let them go at any moment. Those who firmly insist on their good opinion and please themselves more than they should please the will of Christ act very much against this. That is why faith is necessary, that is, justifying grace, so that man may learn to always put his own on the line and deny himself and give up his soul. This, of course, is the narrow way and the right road. That is why he says that it is not he, but the Lord, through his grace, who guides him, because nature opposes this guidance, so that he is rather the object to which the action refers (materia), than a doer, more suffering than active.
But this will happen all the more easily if the soul, converted and moved in a loving way by the word of grace, becomes willing to do all of God's will and unwilling against all of its will. This is what the most learned and Christian people (for that is what they consider themselves) oppose, who let nature and their own will take the reins, and call only that free service to God, when they do what seems right and good to them, almost laughing at submission and obedience to religion, since they are sure that they do no evil, and do good of their own free will, although no one commands and guides them, but their reason dictates it to them. This is the wisdom that is worthy of our time, whereas it would be more salutary if one did not trust in oneself in anything, if one were grieved that one had no guide whose words one could believe, and rather let oneself be guided than by following one's own holy good opinion. For here one must let oneself be led on the right road.
For the sake of his name.
(11) Namely, that he may be praised and glorified, not because of my merit. For grace is freely given, that is, faith and righteousness; so also it is freely increased and administered, that man may not be hopeful, but may praise God.
V. 4. And whether I already wandered in the dark valley (in medio umbrae mortis).
That is, even if I had to die and be in death. For at this point I like the interpretation of Ambrose better than that of Augustine. For he says: "And although the shadow of death surrounds us at the dissolution of the body, life does not cease its course, but in the midst of the compulsion of hell we walk unhindered by the power of Christ. Therefore the holy prophet says: "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me." The Lord says this even more clearly of a believer (John 11:26, 25): "He that believeth in me shall never die, neither shall he live, though he were dead." This is what Ambrose says. Augustine understands by the "shadow of death" this life, as it were as an image and likeness of death, as the shadow is a likeness or image of the body. But "shadow" is better taken for darkness and gloom, so that what is unknown and hidden to us is in the switching. So also "shadow of death" is said, because death has a shadow and darkness; for those who suffer death do not know where they are going. For they go to a place that is completely unknown to them, as God has decreed it over them.
So the meaning is: Even if I do not know where or by what means I will come through death (which alone makes death extremely frightening), I still do not fear any evil, because I walk in faith. But for the word which (in the Vulgate) is put: in medio, St. Jerome has: in the valley of the shadow of death, that is, in the depth of the dark and unknown death; hence in other places death is also called a hell and a depth. By these figurative and figurative expressions, the Scripture expresses (as I have said) the ignorance of the dying and the uncertainty of the place to which they go, and I believe that for this reason this psalm is sung by the Church mainly for the deceased.
14 Therefore in medio [in the middle of] is not understood here as if around the switching of death something is still by heart, but it is said par excellence (absolute), as in the passage [Ps, 104, 10.]: "That the waters flow between (in medio) the mountains", the
1632 L. LVII. 280-282. Short Au[1. on the 23rd, 24th and 25th Psalm. Ps. 23, W. IV, 2228-22S0. 1633
means, in the valley. So also: in the midst of the shadow of death, that is, in a shadowy means, or in a shadowy depth, or a shadowy and dark depth, that is, in death, because it is not known to any man. But the special way and manner of the Hebrew language makes this speech dark. Such ways of speaking are: Coals of fire [Ps. 18, 13. Vulg.], furnace of fire [Ps. 21, 10.], blessing of sweetness [Ps. 21, 4.], instead of: glowing coals, a glowing furnace, or a furnace of fire, a sweet blessing. So also here: the middle of the shifter, that is, shady or dark. The valley of switching, that is, shadowy; and again: the shadow of death, that is, shadow that sets in at death (mortitia), or darkness that is in death.
I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
(15) This is a tremendous confidence that one will not only suffer no misfortune, but also not fear, that is, no punishments in death, through the power of faith.
16 It is not for nothing that I have used so many words in this verse. Yes, I add still more that we are instructed here most beautifully with which heart, with which thoughts we are to go into death, namely that we are to think of nothing except our Lord JEsu. For he says, "For thou art with me," that is, in thee I think, in thee I act, and so I think of nothing else, for in death there is shadow and depth. I do not see where or through what I come. But those who are in the last stages, and let Christ go, are full of sorrow that they must go into torment, and in order that they may go to heaven, they wish with open eyes of the mind that it may be day for them, and that the place may be seen to which they are to go. But they will be greatly distressed and tormented, because no dwelling place will appear that would receive them, but on every rope there is the most dreadful darkness and uncertainty. But it will be good for those who, with their eyes completely closed, do not desire the place to appear before them, but in complete faith and mindfulness of Christ, go into the midst of the darkness of death. For these die in the Lord.
(17) Therefore, this exceedingly glorious verse is nothing other than a word of perfect grace. But nature rather speaks thus: For though I walk on the heights of the light of life, yet I fear calamity, for I am alone, and thou art not with me. For with the wicked even the most certain life is full of fear of misfortune, while for the godly death, which brings with it the greatest uncertainty, is full of certainty. A wonderful contrast and controversy. The living wicked are frightened by the rustling of a flying leaf; and the dead godly are not frightened by the terror of eternal darkness. Therefore one says in the proverb quite beautifully:
I live and do not know how long.
I die and do not know when. I am going and do not know where. I am surprised that I am happy.
But we must beware lest, when death comes and we are tempted by these words, we begin to seek to know and feel where we are to go, but on the contrary, as has been said, we should not wish to know where we are going, just as Abraham 1) went out from his fatherland and did not know where he was to go. For if in this life, when there is temptation, one must hope under the wings of Christ, how much more must one hope under his wings in death and in the last temptation! It is unquestionable that there is salvation in no one else but in the name of Jesus and under his wings, since he is the sun of righteousness. And he himself, when he was our model on the cross, did not say, O Father, whither shall I go? whither shall my spirit go? what place shall receive it? oh, that it would not go into torment! oh, that thou wouldest bring it into rest! but of all these things he is silent, and goes into the midst of the darkness of death, saying [Luc. 23:46], "Father, I commend my spirit into thy hands." Christ goes into the darkness, and a Christian should desire to pass immediately into the light? St. Stephen, the first follower of Christ, did not say either:
1) In all German editions: "David".
Alas, I wretched man! whither will I go? this life now departs from me, another is nowhere in sight; but he says [Acts 7:58], "O Lord JEsu, take up my spirit!" He had indeed seen JEsum standing at the right hand of the power of God, but at that time he truly saw nowhere else but Christ in his heart when he said, "Receive my spirit," but wandered into the midst of the shadow of death.
Your rod and staff comfort me.
(18) If you would ask and answer: How then is Christ with you, David, since he appears nowhere before your eyes in death and temptation? He answers, "Certainly he is not with me according to the flesh and experience, but with his word and sacrament. For "the word of the gospel is the power of God that saves everyone who believes in it," Rom. 1:16; through this word of faith Christ dwells in the heart. Therefore he says, "Thou art with me," namely, because thy rod, that is, thy word, shall comfort me, that even in death I shall fear no evil, as it is also said in the 119th Psalm, v. 105: "Thy word is the lamp of my foot." And Ps. 130, 5: "I hope in his word." That "the rod" (virgam) is the word can be sufficiently seen in the second Psalm, v. 9, because it guides the soul in the midst of the darkness of death, as it says in 2 Petr. 1, 19: "We have a firm prophetic word, and you do well to heed it as a light shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts." Then the same word is also a staff and a support, that he may not be weary in his wanderings. For apart from the word and promise of (de) GOD we have nothing until we are brought to Him. Therefore, whoever has learned to remember nothing else in death but Christ, understands that this is the word and promise of Christ.
V. 5. You prepare a table before me.
19 That is, you will arrange, you will prepare, before my face, before my eyes, a table, namely, of the sacrament of your body and blood. He alludes almost
to the model of the law, where the shewbread or the loaves before thy face (facierum, as the Hebrew text has it) signify the memorial of Christ's suffering in the sacrament. For what is the bread of the face, or the shewbread, but that they are before us and before our face, and are set before our eyes, that we may have a continual remembrance and memorial of Christ, which shall never be left out of our sight, never forgotten? For here we receive strength and comfort and abundant refreshment of mind. For nothing else enlightens the mind more brightly, nothing inflames the heart more strongly, nothing comforts the sorrowful more sweetly than the remembrance of the Passion of Christ, which He commanded to take place at His Sacrament. For who should fear death when it is brought to his mind that the Lord died for him, so that death should have no power over him?
Against my enemies.
020 Why should I fear even in death, since thou hast prepared a table for me against all tribulation and persecution? This verse also instructs us beautifully on how to answer the devils who afflict and accuse us, namely, that Christ alone should be held up to them, because he has been prepared for us against those who afflict us, so that they may not lash out against us but against Christ, and be overcome, as he says [John 16:33]: "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." And again [John 14:30], "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." Therefore, when thou shalt have an evil conscience because of thine iniquities, hold Christ against them, and say in full faith, Though I be a sinner, yet is my Christ good, in whom all my sins are dead, because he bare them on the tree, and slew them.
You anoint my head with oil.
21 [The Vulgate has according to Hebrew idiom: Impinguasti in oleo caput meum,] Latin would say so: Impinguasti caput meum oleo. It is throughout a figurative
Speak, instead of: 'By thy abundant grace thou hast made my spirit joyful,' since the head of man is the mind, or rather the spirit, and that by which he approaches God and heaven. "Oil" or ointment is the grace of the Holy Spirit. Impinguare, however, is not merely anointing and spreading, but abundantly and superfluously showering (incrassare) with joy; he has indicated that it is a full joy and a rich (pinguis) gladness of heart. In the same way, in the 4th Psalm, v. 8, without using an image, he said: "You make my heart glad", because there he also spoke of the Sacrament and its fruit, and that he would surely sleep or die in hope.
And pour me full (Et calix meus Inebrians, quam praeclarus est! ).
(22) This is a repetition of the same thing, for the fruit of the sacrament is to make fat (impinguare), not with flesh and blood, but with the oil of grace and a glad conscience, and to make drunk, not with wine and strong drink, but with the same grace and power. He expresses both forms of the sacrament, namely the table and the bread, which make fat, and the cup and the wine, which make drunk, that is, both increase the believer with the same grace. This he has also done in the fourth Psalm, saying without image [v. 8.], "They have plenty of grain and wine." Here he has said "table" instead of "grain," and "cup" instead of "wine," by a confusion of words, putting the container of wine for what is contained in it (continens pro contento). But this making fat and making drunk befalls only the hungry and the thirsty, as it is Jer. 31:25 [Vulg.], "For I have made the weary souls drunken," or refreshed; but the disgusting rich he leaves empty. But the [appendix]: Quam praeclarus est, must be credited to the interpreter, because not only does it not stand there in the Hebrew, but also another verse begins at the place, and [this verse] ends there, as it is in the Hebrew; but because this has not harmed the understanding so far, it has harmed us.
that there was not much to it. The opinion of the interpreter was: My cup, how glorious, that is, how beautiful, how lovely, how splendid, how good it is, as it is said in the Book of Wisdom, Cap. 12, 1) 1, [Vulg.]: "O HErr, how lovely is your spirit" 2c. But in Hebrew the following, verse begins thus, "Goodness and mercy also shall pursue or follow me."
V. 6. Goodness and mercy (tua) will follow me all my life.
23: Tua is not in the Hebrew. It is a general sentence (absolutus sensus), namely like this: Grace and peace will remain with me and lead me through to the end. As if he wanted to say: Sin and misfortune oppressed me before, but now I am refreshed and made whole, I will remain in grace and peace. For so it is also commonly said: This one stands in grace, or he remains in grace, without adding "God's", although it is understood with. Thus it is said in the fourth Psalm, v. 9: "For thou alone, O Lord, helpest me that I may dwell safely." Therefore, "good" in this passage is security. Security, peace, tranquility of conscience is the most lovely thing, namely, the very greatest gift of GOD. "Mercy," however, is here equally a created gift, usually called the justifying or pleasing grace, which is sometimes translated [in the Vulgate] by sancta, sanctus, and sanctum, as Apost. 15, 34. [Vulg.], "I will faithfully keep unto you the holy things promised to David," instead of: I will show you the reliable mercy of David, that is, the grace that makes righteous in Christ, promised to David and true. Hence also the apostle in his epistles prefixes these two things in his greetings, saying, "Grace and peace," which the prophet here thus expresses, "Surely goodness and mercy." Hence the meaning is, I am not alone satisfied (impinguatus) for the present time, and it is poured into me full (inebriatus), but peace and mercy also shall abide with me unto the end.
1) In the original: sapiontE 16.
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
24 [In longitudine dierum,] that is, for ever, for of this life it is said [Job 10:20.], "The life of man is short." [Et ut inhabitem in domo Domini in longitudine dierum is written in the Vulgate;] St. Jerome has it thus, Et inhabitabo in domo Domini in longitudinem dierum. And it is the [last] half (medietos) of the preceding verse, for with us [in the Vulgate] it is divided into two verses. Not only in all the days of this life will I have peace and grace, by which sin will be cast out and the conscience made sure, but also after this life I will dwell in the eternal house as a citizen, not as a sojourner but as a native.
From the sixth verse:
(25) We are given great assurance to approach the altar, if we are but hungry and thirsty and afflicted, for the table is prepared for us, not against us, but for us, but against them,
which afflict us. But the flesh, the world, the devils, and even more the sins and the wretched conscience afflict us. The flesh, the world, the devil tempt us to sin, against grace. But the conscience and the devils at the same time also because of sin, against the peace of the heart. Therefore, since grace and peace are prepared for us on this table, why would you be afraid to come to it? If conscience bites you because of past sins, you will find peace nowhere else but at this table, as Christ says, John 16:33: "In the world ye fear, but in me ye have peace." But if the flesh tickles with unchastity, the world flatters with gluttony and drunkenness, avarice and hatred, the devil with hopefulness and sloth, where will you go but to the table of grace prepared for you against these temptations? It is enough if you find that you are eager for grace and full of hatred against the exceedingly flattering temptations of the flesh, the world and the devil. Therefore it is said in Matth. 11, 28: "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you."